Bridging the Pioneer Gap : The Role of Accelerators in Launching High-Impact Enterprises

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1 Bridging the Pioneer Gap : The Role of Accelerators in Launching High-Impact Enterprises A report by the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs and Village Capital With the support of: Ross Baird Lily Bowles Saurabh Lall

2 The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) The Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) is a global network of organizations that propel entrepreneurship in emerging markets. ANDE members provide critical financial, educational, and business support services to small and growing businesses (SGBs) based on the conviction that SGBs will create jobs, stimulate long-term economic growth, and produce environmental and social benefits. Ultimately, we believe that SGBS can help lift countries out of poverty. ANDE is part of the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization. For more information please visit Village Capital Village Capital sources, trains, and invests in impactful seed-stage enterprises worldwide. Inspired by the village bank model in microfinance, Village Capital programs leverage the power of peer support to provide opportunity to entrepreneurs that change the world. Our investment process democratizes entrepreneurship by putting funding decisions into the hands of entrepreneurs themselves. Since 2009, Village Capital has served over 300 ventures on five continents building disruptive innovations in agriculture, education, energy, environmental sustainability, financial services, and health. For more information, please visit Report released June 2013 Cover photo by TechnoServe

3 Table of Contents Executive Summary I. Introduction II. III. IV. Background a. Incubators and Accelerators in Traditional Business Sectors b. Incubators and Accelerators in the Impact Investing Sector Data and Methodology The Landscape of Impact-Focused Accelerators a. Geographic Scope b. Organizational Structure c. Funding Sources V. Enterprise Pipeline and Selection a. Sector and Impact Objectives b. Enterprise Stage of Development c. Enterprise Recruitment and Selection VI. VII. VIII. IX. Services and Benefits a. Duration and Frequency of Program b. Services Provided c. Post-Program Support Accelerator Networks a. Types of Formal Partnerships b. Partnerships with Impact Investors Metrics and Evaluation a. Financial and Social Performance Data Collection b. Accelerator Graduate Performance Measuring Accelerator Performance: First Steps X. Conclusions and Next Steps XI. Recommendations Acknowledgments Appendices List of Surveyed Accelerators List of Surveyed Investors References

4 Executive Summary Over the past several years, researchers and practitioners have increasingly highlighted a consistent gap in capital and support between social enterprises and impact investors, a gap which incubators and accelerators can play a critical role in bridging. These organizations support early-stage social enterprises by providing them with a range of services, such as business development support, mentoring, infrastructure, as well as access to networks of investors, foundations, and corporations. This report represents the first quantitative assessment of the impact accelerator landscape, with data from 52 organizations globally, collected by ANDE and Village Capital between November 2012 and February We present findings in 6 key areas: The Landscape of Accelerators: While nearly 75% of all accelerators in our sample rely on some level of philanthropic support, about one-third are structured as for-profits, suggesting that they expect to develop sustainable revenue streams in the future. Currently, over 50% of all funding for accelerators is from philanthropy. Enterprise Pipeline and Selection: Employment, economic development, health, clean energy, and agriculture are the most common impact areas that accelerators focus on. These accelerators typically spend 1-2 months recruiting each cohort, but are not as selective as traditional business accelerators. Services and Benefits: The majority of accelerators provide the same set of core services mentorship, access to investors, networks of partners, and business skills development. About 50% also provide direct funding to the enterprises. Accelerator Networks: Accelerators also seek to develop formal partnerships with a range of different types of organizations, including impact investors, commercial investors, foundations, governments, and universities. However, many impact investors prefer to maintain informal relationships with accelerators, though they do not commit any capital to the accelerator s operations or its enterprises. Metrics and Evaluation: While the majority of accelerators collect financial data, almost onethird do not collect any social performance data. Additionally, 23% of the accelerators in our sample did not collect data on the status of their graduate enterprises, making it difficult to assess their performance. Measuring Accelerator Performance: We found that selectivity and partnerships with in-country commercial investors are associated with higher accelerator performance. However, we did not find any relationship between accelerator performance and the level of philanthropic funding. This report is the first step of our broader initiative to strengthen incubators and accelerators in the impact investing ecosystem. We believe our research will provide significant value for the enterprises, investors, and funders that support accelerator services, in addition to the accelerators themselves. Our work will provide answers to critical questions that will allow entrepreneurial firms to make more educated decisions about whether to join an incubator, and if so, which one. It will inform accelerator managers about bestin-class practices and provide mechanisms to improve their performance. Finally, foundations, investors and development institutions will be able to assess the impact of their investments and identify strategies to scale or replicate successful incubator models. 1

5 I. Introduction Bridging the Pioneer Gap Despite an age of unprecedented global wealth, billions of people worldwide live in poverty. Over the past decade, however, governments, the nonprofit sector, and the business world have proactively explored the ability of small and growing businesses (SGBs) to reduce poverty, particularly in emerging markets. The promise of marketbased solutions to social problems has generated much excitement about impact investing an investment strategy seeking positive social/environmental returns beyond financial. According to a 2013 JPMorgan/GIIN study, a total of $17 billion is expected to be deployed into socially beneficial sectors in However, this capital is not yet reaching many of the innovative SGBs that can contribute to poverty alleviation through the jobs they create, and the products and services they provide. While social enterprises continue to emerge (Village Capital alone has seen over 5,000 applications from impact-focused entrepreneurs worldwide over the last three years.), many innovative companies in their early stages have found difficulty in getting off the ground. They are still not able to access and take advantage of this new flow of capital or other support and resources they need to succeed. A 2012 report from Monitor-Deloitte and the Acumen Fund highlights this paradox- The Pioneer Gap: While thousands of early-stage innovators seeking impact launch companies worldwide, very few are able to build the teams, find the customer base, or raise the investment necessary to scale. 2 The Pioneer Gap specifically refers to the burden shouldered by enterprises that are pioneering new business models for social change. Monitor-Deloitte and Acumen identify four stages that these firms typically progress through, from the blueprint stage, to validation, preparation, and finally, scale. The Pioneer Gap occurs between the early stages in an enterprise s growth, when it is not considered investable by many impact investors. Incubator or Accelerator? In traditional business sectors, incubators and accelerators generally focus on different stages of enterprise development - incubators typically serve earlier stage enterprises (pre-customers and pre-revenue), while accelerators support enterprises with existing customers and revenue. However, we have found that these differences are less distinct for the impact investing sector. For the purposes of this paper, we will use the term accelerator to describe an organization that provides some subset of the support outlined in this report, at any stage of development. The Pioneer Gap hypothesis is supported by additional research on this sector. In an industry survey conducted in 2012 by Village Capital, of over 300 self-described impact investment funds, fewer than 10 invested at less than $250,000/company. 3 Additionally, a Monitor-Deloitte study of African impact investors found that only 6 of 84 invested at the early stage. 4 Impact investors cite lack of appropriate capital across the spectrum and lack of investable enterprises as the top two barriers to deploying more impact investment, suggesting that the bottleneck of (a) not enough quality companies in the early stage and (b) not enough effective support to produce later-stage investable companies is thwarting the growth of this sector. The Role of Accelerators Over the past several years, actors in the impact investing sector have developed a growing recognition that early-stage support specifically, in the form of business incubators and accelerators is a key intervention to addressing the Pioneer Gap. Business incubators and accelerators support early-stage entrepreneurs by providing them with: (a) business development support (e.g. consulting, technology assistance); (b) infrastructure support (e.g. access to office space, shared back-office services); (c) network support (e.g. access to potential customers, investors, mentors), and (d) financial support (in the form of grants/investments). This study surveys 52 impactfocused accelerators worldwide, to better understand their characteristics, operations, and performance. 2

6 Social Entrepreneurship or Impact Investment? Several terms over the past thirty years have been used to describe market-based solutions to social problems: social entrepreneurship, popularized by Bill Drayton, the founder of Ashoka; impact investing, pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Global Impact Investing Network, Base of the Pyramid businesses, coined by Prahalad & Hart, and several others (e.g. Triple-bottom-line investing, Inclusive Business. ) Given that accelerators are typically both enterprise and investor facing, for this report, we will use impact investing & social enterprise to encompass all business activity that seeks to use markets to address social problems, as well as investment strategies that proactively seek social/environmental returns in addition to financial returns. This research is particularly timely. Over the past five years, the number of accelerators has grown significantly 73% of accelerators surveyed are fewer than five years of age. While the role of accelerators in entrepreneurship has been studied to some extent and we will review the existing literature in the next section studies are largely limited to accelerators focused on technology companies in developed markets (U.S. and Europe). Very little research exists on accelerator activity in emerging markets, and almost none on the role of accelerators focused on impact investment. With over 40 impact focused accelerators founded in the last half-decade, an accurate assessment of what accelerators are doing and where is necessary so that we can eventually understand how accelerators are doing in addressing market-based solutions to poverty. ANDE and Village Capital believe there is a pressing need for a more holistic, evidencebased approach to leverage the potential of incubators and accelerators, and to understand what makes them successful. This report Bridging the Pioneer Gap, builds on an earlier piece of research conducted by Village Capital, and represents the first datadriven analysis of the social enterprise accelerator landscape. Through a comprehensive survey of accelerators pipeline, services, networks, and outcomes, we expect findings to be relevant to accelerators, impact investors, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and the broader field of SGB development. 3

7 II. Background a. Incubators and Accelerators in Traditional Business Sectors The study of social-impact focused incubators and accelerators is in its infancy. However, the collected research on business incubators and accelerators in developed markets provides a basis for guidance in this study. The critical focus of researchers, prominently Vanderstraeten, McMullen, and Sherman, stress that any accelerator has a relatively high financial cost for funders (as a percentage of funds deployed, compared to traditional venture capital) and time-cost for participants; as a result, they stress the upfront importance of performance evaluation for accelerators, yet recognize that measuring performance is often challenging. 5 Lalkaka states that the performance of a business incubator should be measured by the survival and growth of the businesses it incubates. However, there is little consensus among researchers on the best measures for enterprise growth. 6 Various studies suggest growth in sales, employees, cash flow, and assets as measures of success. Vanderstraeten and Matthyssens review the literature on incubators and accelerators, and suggest the following two measures of performance: (1) Number of companies which have had an IPO or were acquisition targets, (2) Number of companies which have not had an IPO or been acquired, but are still active. There is some consensus on the key factors that lead to accelerator success: Organizational Resources: Some research suggests that resource dependency, or the funding structure for accelerators can have an impact on their performance. Chandra and Fealey suggest that over-reliance on philanthropic support can have a negative relationship with accelerator performance. 7 Selection: A number of studies confirm that enterprise selection has a critical relationship with accelerator performance, and a rigorous selection process enables incubators and accelerators to evaluate key enterprise characteristics. Screening best practices include evaluating managerial, product, and financial characteristics, as well as market dynamics. 8 Quality of (and Access to) Services: The same researchers suggest that access to professional management services, as well as other supporting resources (administrative support, accounting, marketing, legal support), are considered important yet the quality of services and period of engagement have a stronger relationship with the success of an accelerator. 9 Networks: Haanasalo and Eckham argue that the most important factor for incubator success is organized networking, with the most critical service being a strong network of experts, potential investors, and business contacts. 10 Yet to date, conclusive evidence on accelerator performance is mixed in traditional business sectors. Both Ferguson and Löfsten suggest that startup companies with accelerator intervention have a higher survival rate 11 and rate of sales growth 12, compared to similar startup companies without exposure to an accelerator. Conversely, Amezcua studied a nationally representative sample of firms in the US and found that in fact, incubated firms fail 10% sooner than their non-incubated counterparts. Incubated enterprises demonstrate short-term employment and sales growth, but fail sooner, suggesting that the protective environment of an incubator may actually inhibit the firms from developing resilient routines and competencies 13. In this same vein, in his study of business incubators in Europe, Ratinho found that there is often a mismatch between the services that incubators offer and the needs of participating enterprises 14. Underscoring all these findings are the relative paucity of significant research conducted on accelerator inputs and enterprise outcomes necessitating an exploration of the impact investing / social entrepreneurship landscape. 4

8 b. Incubators and Accelerators in the Impact Investing Sector According to our findings, the number of accelerators serving impact enterprises has grown rapidly in the last five years (over 70% of the accelerators surveyed were founded in 2008 or later). Despite this strong growth, limited research and data-driven analysis of accelerators role in the impact investment ecosystem exists. This report is a first step towards generating a greater understanding of accelerators in the impact investment sector, and is part of a broader strategy to analyze, evaluate, benchmark, and strengthen accelerators. This report is not intended to be a comprehensive evaluation of impact accelerators, but rather an initial assessment of the landscape of these organizations. We have divided this report into six sections: The Landscape of Accelerators: We present an overview of the data collected from 52 incubators and accelerators between November 2012 February 2013, focusing on key descriptors such as organizational structure, finances, geographic scope, and human capital. This overview presents a valuable landscape of a growing group of accelerators proactively seeking impact beyond financial returns. Enterprise Pipeline and Selection: We discuss key impact areas, the stage of the enterprises they support, and their recruitment and selection processes. Services and Benefits: In this section, we examine the various services that accelerators provide to their enterprises, the duration of their programs, and the frequency of the mentoring sessions. We also study post-program support that accelerators provide. Accelerator Networks: We review the various kinds of formal partnerships that accelerators typically seek, with impact investors, commercial investors, foundations, governments, and universities. We also present findings from our survey of investors, about their connections with accelerators. Metrics and Evaluation: We discuss accelerators efforts to collect financial and social performance data from their enterprises, and identify gaps in current practices. Measuring Accelerator Performance: In this section, we examine which factors (in terms of organizational age, structure, selection, services, and networks) are associated with improved accelerator performance, drawing from the literature on traditional incubators and accelerators. We do not suggest any potential causality through this analysis, but expect the findings to provide guidance to more rigorous evaluations of social enterprise accelerator performance in the future. Based on our findings, we highlight common conclusions and trends that we hope can help funders, investors, and enterprises better leverage accelerators to drive enterprise impact and growth. We conclude by providing a series of recommendations for these various groups. 5

9 III. Data and Methodology Village Capital launched the first phase of this project in Spring 2012, gathering initial data from accelerators in the impact investment sector, and joined ANDE in Summer 2012 to integrate initial findings into a broader research strategy on accelerators. In October 2012, Village Capital and ANDE shared findings from an initial survey of 25 accelerators at SOCAP, and other conferences, in the report Bridging the Gap: The Role of Accelerators in Impact Investing. Based on the feedback from various stakeholders, including impact investors, accelerators, foundations, and academics, Village Capital and ANDE revised the survey in October 2012, sending it to 50 additional accelerators identified through our networks in mid-november The 25 original respondents also received a supplemental survey to enable comparable data points from the first research report. In January 2013, we identified a further 122 incubators and accelerators through F6S, a website that serves as a bulletin board for upcoming incubator and accelerator programs for startups. We asked all accelerators surveyed upfront for impact objectives beyond financial returns, and allowed accelerators to state that they have no impact objective beyond financial returns, in order to enable a comparison of impact-focused accelerators to non-impact focused programs. Initial feedback from the first report also focused on investors: given 98% of accelerators surveyed listed access to investors as a primary benefit of the program, industry feedback suggested that an appropriate study of the accelerator landscape should also focus on investors engagement with accelerators. We surveyed 60 impact investors on different variables surrounding their relationship with accelerators. After significant follow-up via and phone from December 2012-February 2013, we closed the surveys in mid-february 2013, with a final response rate of 33% (65 out of 197 accelerators). Additionally, we received a 60% response rate for the investor survey (36 out of 60 investors surveyed). We dropped 7 incomplete responses due to insufficient data, leaving us with 58 complete responses. However, only 6 accelerator respondents identified themselves as having no impact objectives beyond financial returns, which was not a sufficient sample for a reasonable comparison between impact-focused and non-impact focused accelerators. We dropped these 6 observations, and have focused on examining the 52 social impact-focused accelerators in this study. In our findings, we provide descriptive statistics on key aspects of accelerator characteristics and performance, and also conduct some preliminary analysis of the factors that may contribute to better performance. We used t-tests to compare accelerators performance in different categories related to organizational structure and funding, selection, services, and networks. Given the relatively small sample size, and the fact that all the data are self-reported, we are cautious about making strong inferences at this stage. However, we suggest that these findings will be helpful in pointing the way for further, more rigorous analysis of incubator and accelerator performance. We are currently developing a more extensive analysis on this topic by building a longitudinal dataset of social enterprises both accelerator and non-accelerator graduates to find relationships between accelerator interventions and enterprise performance, as well as an evaluative framework to assess accelerator performance. 6

10 IV. The Landscape of Impact-Focused Accelerators a. Geographic Scope Of the 52 accelerators surveyed, 27% are open to enterprises across the globe (e.g. the Unreasonable Institute and the Global Social Benefit Incubator are open to ventures worldwide) ; 31% operate are open to ventures from specific regions (e.g., GrowthAfrica is open to ventures from East Africa; Agora Partnerships is open to ventures across Central America and Mexico), 35% operate nationally (e.g. Artemisia is open to ventures in Brazil; New Ventures-Mexico is pan-mexico), and 8% operate in specific cities (e.g. the SEHub focuses on Singapore-based ventures). The majority of accelerator operations in this study are Africafocused. Figure 1: Geographic Scope Global 27% Regional 31% National 35% City 8% n=52 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% Figure 2: Geographic Focus Africa Asia Europe South America North America Central America/Mexico Middle East Oceania Caribbean 0% 4% 6% 8% 23% 25% 30% 30% 42% n=52 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 7

11 Human Capital With the growing awareness of accelerators valuable role in impact investment, these organizations are attracting significant human capital and resources to their operations. On average, accelerators employ about 11 staff members (8 full-time and 3 part-time employees).* Older accelerators (those that were founded before 2008), are considerably larger, with an average of 27 employees, compared to younger accelerators (that have about 6 employees), suggesting that accelerators have the potential to scale. As newer accelerators become more established and strengthen their operations, we expect them to develop the resources to attract and retain strong talent. * We excluded a large accelerator with 280 employees for this estimate. If included, accelerators in the sample would have an average of 17 employees. b. Organizational Structure As a baseline analysis of accelerators, we first analyzed organizations founding, structure, and sources of funding. As mentioned before, accelerators are relatively new 72% were founded in the last five years, though the oldest in our sample was founded in Perhaps counter-intuitively, impact-focused accelerators seem more focused on developing revenue streams beyond philanthropic support than traditional business accelerators: while research on incubators and accelerators in traditional business sectors suggest that the majority are structured as non-profits 15, interestingly, 38% of the accelerators in our sample are set up as for-profits, 44% as nonprofits, and 17% as hybrids. c. Funding Sources Accelerators appear to have sufficient resources to operate but are by no means selfsustaining. In fact, 57% of the respondents stated their financial condition as operating smoothly, while 16% report operating with a surplus. Only about a quarter of the respondents said they were strapped for cash. 1 Accelerators current sources of revenue include, in order (with detail on each below): (1) Philanthropic capital; (2) Program Fees (3) Consulting Contracts; (4) Return from Successful Investment; and (5) Investment Closing Fees. Figure 3: Accelerator Budgets by Funding Source Investment Return from Closing Fees, successful 7% investments, 8% Entrepreneur fees, 17% Philanthropic Capital, 53.5% Consulting contracts, 13% n=50 Philanthropy Even though almost two-thirds of the accelerators we surveyed report being structured as for-profits or hybrids, 74% of all accelerators rely on philanthropic support for their operations, and 54% of the total amount of capital currently used by accelerators is from philanthropic sources. This finding suggests that while many accelerators expect to develop revenue streams in the future, the majority of them are also likely to rely on grants to support some portion of operations for the foreseeable future. Entrepreneur fees About one-third of the accelerators surveyed charge participants fees, while an additional 17% plan to have fees in the future. On average, accelerators charge $1,300 per enterprise, ranging from $120 to $5,000 (excluding 3 outliers that charge $10,000 or more). 1 We received 37 responses for this question (71% of the sample). 8

12 Consulting contracts The second-highest source of accelerator budget is revenue from consulting contracts. Accelerators have a unique position of high exposure to a large volume of enterprises, and are able to monetize their expertise in two ways: (a) research on knowledge and insights gained from enterprise exposure, and (b) direct business development assistance provided to entrepreneur graduates. Returns from Investment Returns from investments represent a small overall percentage of revenue (8.2%), though nearly half the accelerators surveyed report taking some equity in the enterprises that go through their programs. This is fairly unsurprising given that the sample of accelerators is relatively young, and liquidity events from impact investments are rare, and can take several years to materialize. Success Fees From Investment 98% of accelerators promote access to investors as a valuable service of the program, and many monetize this service through charging success fees for investments brokered. While this remains the lowest budget line-item of all accelerator budgets, nearly 7.5% of all accelerator budgets are funded by success fees. 9

13 V. Enterprise Pipeline and Selection a. Sector and Impact Objectives 20% of accelerators focus on entrepreneurs from one particular sector, 40% work with entrepreneurs from several specific sectors, and 40% of accelerators are not sector-specific. As certain sectors continue to grow, we expect to see more specialization among accelerators. We focused our study specifically on incubators and accelerators that claim to have at least one impact objective beyond financial returns. Based on our sample, the types of impact objectives can be broadly categorized under two categories: Employment and Products and Services for the Underserved. The majority of accelerators surveyed (56%) focus on employment generation and income and productivity growth (46%), aiming to stimulate socio-economic development by supporting SGBs. However, a significant proportion also focuses on supporting enterprises working in health (35%), clean energy (35%), and agriculture (33%). This finding is consistent with previous data that suggest these three sectors are the largest and fastest growing in impact investing (ANDE, 2012). Figure 4: Impact Objectives Employment Generation Income/Productivity Growth Health Improvement Clean Energy Agricultural Productivity Community Development Financial Services Equality & Empowerment Capacity-Building Clean Water All Impact Objectives Food Security Affordable Housing Disease-Specific Prevention & Mitigation Generate Funds for Charitable Giving Conflict Resolution No Impact Objectives 0% 8% 6% 6% 13% 35% 35% 33% 33% 29% 25% 25% 25% 21% 19% 46% 56% n=52 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% b. Enterprise Stage of Development The accelerators surveyed work with enterprises in a range of developmental stages, ranging from the idea stage to the growth stage (Figure 5). To focus on specific areas where accelerators have intervened in ventures, we clearly defined four areas of enterprise development and identified the percentage of accelerators that self-reported working with ventures in each stage (some accelerators reported multiple stages): Idea stage (40% of accelerators): The proverbial idea on paper ; ventures at this stage do not yet have a working prototype, good/service/product, or customer. Prototype stage (75% of accelerators): the most common stage for accelerators, prototype stage is a phase where accelerators have a working minimum viable model of their good or service, but do not yet have revenue. 10

14 Post-revenue stage (65% of accelerators): Ventures have customers and typically functioning revenue models; however, their business model is not yet at scale, and they are not yet cash-flow positive, and they typically have not raised significant financing outside friends and family. Growth stage (23% of accelerators): Ventures are operating business models at scale; they typically are cash/flow positive and/or have raised significant outside venture financing. Of particular note is a less-clear distinction between incubators and accelerators in the social enterprise space than in traditional business sectors, where these roles are more clearly defined. Social-enterprise focused accelerators tend to work across a fairly wide spectrum of enterprise development stages, perhaps reflecting the relatively limited pipeline of firms. Figure 5: Enterprise Development Stages Idea Stage Prototype Stage Post- Revenue Stage Growth Stage Figure 6: Enterprise Stage of Development Figure 6: Enterprise Stage of Development Idea Stage 40% Prototype Stage 75% Post-Revenue Stage 65% Growth Stage 23% n=52 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% c. Enterprise Recruitment and Selection The 52 surveyed accelerators have worked with a total of 20,216 entrepreneurs in their history. Accelerators devote a significant amount of resources upfront to the recruitment and selection process. While 7% of accelerators spend less than a month on recruitment activities, 33% spend between three months and one year on recruitment. Most commonly, 60% of the accelerators surveyed spend between one and three months recruiting each new cohort. Accelerators recruit entrepreneurs through a host of different channels. The most common sources cited by accelerators include: 1) Referrals from entrepreneurs affiliated with the accelerator, 2) Impact investors (individuals and investment funds), 3) Commercial investors (individuals and investment funds that do not self-identify as impact investors, 4) Entrepreneurial associations (fellowships, scholarships) in the social impact space, 5) Entrepreneurial associations that do not identify with social entrepreneurship or impact investing, 6) Universities, 7) Industry associations focused on specific sectors, 8) Sector-specific conferences (e.g., agriculture, education), 9) Social entrepreneurship or impact investing conferences, 10) Inbound requests from program marketing efforts and social media, 11) Outbound direct, cold-call recruitment (e.g., finding and contacting entrepreneurs on the web, Facebook, LinkedIn) 11

15 But not all sources are equally helpful. In order, accelerators ranked the following sources as most helpful: 1) Referrals from entrepreneurs affiliated with the accelerator ( helpful by over 50% of the organizations surveyed) 2) Inbound requests from program marketing efforts (30%); 3) Referrals from entrepreneurial associations (19%); 4) Referrals from upstream impact investors (15%). Interestingly, social entrepreneurship and impact investing conferences were listed as the least helpful. This finding is somewhat surprising, considering the prevalence of conferences in the sector that promote themselves as a means of identifying entrepreneurs. However, it may also be the case that social enterprise conferences typically feature more successful and mature enterprises, making them a less useful source of early stage companies that might apply to participate in accelerators. Technology and Invention-Based Enterprises While accelerators do not necessarily need to be focused on technology/invention, we studied the degree to which accelerators were actively focused on invention-based enterprises (which we define as enterprises that have a core technology that was invented/created by the founding team, who owns or seeks to own core intellectual property on the invention). 25% of accelerators surveyed focus exclusively on working with enterprises that have technology and/or an invention at the center of their enterprises, while another 41% have an active focus on technology (but still work with non-technology or invention-focused entrepreneurs). Only 31% have no active focus on tech innovations, and only one accelerator had no technology-based companies in its program. Figure 7: Focus on Technology and Innovation Active focus on technology, but still work with entrepreneurs without tech innovations 41% 100% focused on technology innovations (do not work with non-tech companies) 31% No active focus on technology innovations 26% No technology-based companies in 2% programs n=51 0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% Based on our sample, accelerators in the impact investment sector appear to be less competitive in terms of selection with an average acceptance rate of almost 21%--than accelerators in the traditional business sector, which accept about 5% of applicants. 16 The exact reasons for the lack of selectivity are unclear, though it is possible that there is simply a much smaller pipeline of socially oriented enterprises. Additionally, it is possible that, due to the high percentage of accelerators earning revenue from entrepreneur fees, investment returns, and success fees, accelerator managers may admit enterprises more readily in order to bring in more revenue. Philanthropic support may also be linked to the number of entrepreneurs supported, which would also encourage accelerators to accept a greater percentage of applicants. But selectivity matters: in Section IV we compare accelerators that accept 10% or fewer of their applicants, to less selective accelerators, on the basis of key performance characteristics. 12

16 VI. Services and Benefits a. Program Duration & Frequency The average duration of surveyed accelerator programs is six months. 2 The frequency of meetings during this time period varies widely, ranging from every day (26%) to once a month (14%), with many different meeting frequencies in between (Figure 8). Figure 8: Frequency of Program Sessions Once a month, 15% Every day, 23% Twice a month, 6% More than twice a month, 13% More than two times per week, 17% n=47 Once a week, 15% Twice a week, 11% b. Program Services & Benefits 83% of accelerators describe their support approach as high-touch. In this case, social impact-focused accelerators appear to be similar to the majority of incubators and accelerators in traditional business sectors that provide high-touch, highly tailored services to a small group of enterprises. Almost all surveyed programs provide the following benefits: mentorship from experts (100%), access to potential investors (98%), network of partners and customers (97%), and business skills development (97%). The majority of programs provide direct funding (54%), while a minority provides technology training and assistance (33%). Figure 9: Accelerator Services and Benefits Mentorship from Experts Access to Potential Investors Network of Partners & Customers Business Skills Development 100% 98% 97% 97% Direct Funding 54% Technology Assistance 33% n=52 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 2 We excluded two outliers that have 60- and 84-month engagement periods. If we include those organizations, the average duration would be over nine months. 13

17 Other self-identified benefits of accelerators include: media exposure, brand recognition, access to a co-working space, referrals to vetted talent and human capital, exposure to relevant and timely R&D, and membership in an extensive alumni network consisting of other like-minded entrepreneurs, service providers, and investors. However, the existing literature reinforces that just because a service is provided, it does not necessarily mean that the service is of high-quality. We expect to dive deeper into this issue through the next phase of our research strategy by collecting enterprise-level data from ventures who have participated in accelerators, and comparable enterprises that have not received accelerator support. c. Post-Program Support The majority of accelerators (66%) offer post-program support to all of their graduates at no cost. 28% percent of accelerators provide post-program services for free on a case-to-case basis, while 4% provide services on a case-to-case basis for a fee. (2% do not provide post-program support at all due to a lack of bandwidth or resources.) Of the accelerators that do provide post-program services to their entrepreneurs, 21% of accelerators offer services between one and six months after an entrepreneur graduates from their program, and 9% offer support between six to eight months. The majority (70%) offer services beyond nine months, and may extend as long as the entrepreneurs ventures exist. The types of post-program services offered to entrepreneurs include: public relations opportunities, connections with investors, board participation, HR/recruitment support, regional meet-ups, alumni networking, and online communities listing funding and promotion opportunities). 14

18 VII. Accelerator Networks a. Types of Formal Partnerships Many accelerators have formal partnerships with other organizations, which we define as: 1) pipeline/deal flow partners, which recommend enterprises for the accelerator program and attend events/pitchfests, but do not commit financial support to either the accelerator or the entrepreneurs, 2) enterprise support partners, which pre-commit capital to enterprises, but do not fund the accelerator program s operations, 3) organization support partners, which fund accelerators organizational/operational expenses, but do not fund the underlying enterprises, and 4) enterprise and organization support partners which commit capital to funding both the accelerator s operations and the underlying enterprises. Accelerators have formed partnerships with five main groups: (1) Corporations, (2) Universities, (3) Investors (4) Foundations, and (5) Governments (Figure 10) Figure 10: Types of Organizations With Which Accelerators Have Formal Partnerships Corporations Universities Domestic Impact Investors Foundations Domestic Commercial Investors International Impact Investors Government International Commercial Investors n= b. Partnerships with Impact Investors To corroborate our data from the accelerator survey and to better understand accelerators connections with impact investors, we also collected data from 37 impact investment funds. Only 21% of the investors we surveyed had established formal partnerships with accelerators. The most common reasons for not partnering with an accelerator included: Mandate fit. (43% of investors surveyed). Impact investors viewed accelerators as valuable feeders for their pipeline, but did not consider it within their mandate to fund them directly. Not additionally useful. 23% of investors also stated that they were able to meet their current investment goals without relying on accelerators. Interested, but no current partnerships. 16% of the investors stated that they were interested in pursuing formal relationships with accelerators, but had not done so yet. 15

19 Figure 11: Impact Investors that have a Formal Partnership with an Accelerator No Formal Partnership 79% Formal Partnership 21% n=37 Despite the lack of formal partnerships and funding from impact investors, 60% of the investors in our sample did report having informal partnerships with accelerators. We define an informal partnership as one in which an investor regularly communicates with accelerator staff, attends events, or stays otherwise informed, with a primary goal of obtaining deal flow, but does not fund the accelerator directly. The range of accelerator/investor engagement is wide across the board. Some accelerators are in sync with impact investors: 32% of investors report that up to 20% of their portfolio was sourced from accelerators. Yet a plurality of impact investors do not rely on accelerators for deal flow - 47% of investors report that 0% of their current portfolio was sourced from accelerators. Figure 12: Impact Investors with Informal Partnerships with Accelerators Investors with no Informal Partnerships with Accelerators 40% Investors with Informal Partnerships with Accelerators 60% Co-Working Spaces Many accelerators work is made financially viable due to operating out of free or affordable co-working spaces. In fact, 61% of accelerators surveyed maintain a formal partnership with a university, organization, or co-working space (e.g. the Hub) to lessen the cost of their operations. n=34 Our findings underscore the critical need for philanthropic support for accelerators in the near term, but also raise important questions about aligning the services that accelerators provide with the needs of impact investors. Many impact investors do not look to accelerators for deal flow, and the majority do not contribute to accelerators budgets in any formalized and consistent way. We suggest that accelerators need to more accurately calculate the specific value that they add for investors in terms of lower searching and due diligence costs, and design their pipeline and curriculum in collaboration with experienced investors. ANDE is pursuing additional research on developing a framework to analyze the value created by accelerators (described in Section X). 16

20 VIII. Metrics & Evaluation Based on our analysis, metrics and evaluation is a key target area for improvement for impactfocused accelerators. Most notably, a significant proportion of organizations that we surveyed do not track financial or social performance data on an ongoing basis, making it difficult to assess performance and establish benchmarks for the sector. a. Financial and Social Performance Data Collection We asked accelerators to report on the status of their graduate enterprises. While the majority of accelerators (96%) never collect financial data from enterprises, 23% do not track the status of their graduate enterprises, which makes it difficult to evaluate their performance. We noticed the following gaps in accelerator data analysis: Lack of any data collection: Of the accelerators we surveyed, 4% do not collect any financial performance data from their enterprises, while 20% do not collect any social or environmental performance data (Figure 13 & 14). We find this discrepancy surprising, given the impact-oriented focus of these accelerators. Potential interventions to improve the impact-oriented data collection with accelerators could be support for the introduction of standardized reporting frameworks (such as IRIS and GIIRS) also used by investors and capital providers in the sector. Data tracking venture performance over time: Additionally, 14% of the respondents only collect financial data at a single point in time (e.g. at the beginning or end of their program), and 15% only collect social and environmental data (n = 48) at a single point (Figure 15). This makes it difficult to assess whether there is any change in the social or financial performance of the enterprises that go through these programs. Accelerator-driven data collection mandates. Finally, 28% of respondents consider reporting by their program participants to be optional 3. The majority of the accelerators that do require reporting expect enterprises to provide data for at least one year after the end of their programs, and about one-third require reporting as long as the enterprise is in operation. Data collection methodologies. The primary method of collecting data also varies widely, with 64% of accelerators collecting data through in-person interviews or during site visits, 52% via phone, and 50% via or online mechanisms. The variety of methods used in data collection also affects how reliable and unbiased the data are accelerators responded to this question (83%). 17

21 Figure 13: Financial Performance Data Collection Frequency Never (with no plans to) 2% n=49 Monthly 12% Quarterly 33% Annually 37% Never (but plan to in the future) 2% Only once (e.g., at the end of our accelerator program) 14% Figure 14: Frequency of Social & Environmental Performance Data Collection n=48 Quarterly 18% Monthly 12% Annually 27% Never (with no plans to) 18% Never (but plan to in the future) 10% Only once (e.g., at the end of our accelerator program) 15% Figure 15: Data Reporting Period Reporting is optional 28% 1-6 months 2% As long as enterprise stays operational 33% 7-12 months 2% Over 1 year (but less than 2) 12% 2-5 years 23% n=49 b. Accelerator Graduate Performance About 77% of the accelerators in our sample track the status of their graduate enterprises, though their data collection methodologies are varied and incomplete. We analyzed the performance of ventures that graduated from the accelerators that do collect data (n=40). 31% of the enterprises are reported to be profitable and/or have received major investment, another 46% are still in operation but are not yet profitable and/or have not yet received major investment, and about 10% of the enterprises are no longer operating. There is no data available on 13% of the enterprises, even for the accelerators that do track their enterprises. 18

22 IX. Measuring Accelerator Performance: First Steps Based on research on incubators and accelerators in developed markets, we analyzed among the sample size of this study 4 key factors that typically affect accelerator success: Organizational Funding Sources, Selectivity, Services, and Networks. Additionally, we also analyzed the variable of Accelerator Years in Operation to compare older accelerators (those that have been in operation for over 5 years) to younger accelerators. We used the following two (self-reported) variables as measures of accelerator success, consistent with the literature on incubators and accelerators 17. We conducted independent sample t-tests to compare average performance measures across different categories for these factors. 4 Enterprise Success Rate: Percentage of graduate enterprises operating at a profitable level, and/ or having raised major investment ($500,000 or more) Enterprise Survival Rate: Percentage of graduate enterprises that are operating at a profitable level, and/or have raised major investment ($500,000 or more) OR Are still operating, but are not yet profitable and/or have not yet raised necessary investment (i.e., inclusive of previous category) Accelerator Years in Operation While there are many accelerator characteristics that can influence their performance, on average, we hypothesized that older, more established accelerators would perform better, given their experience and track record. As mentioned previously, 72% of accelerators are relatively young (under 5 years old). The research seems to suggest some validity to our hypothesis: older accelerators do perform better in terms of their enterprise success rates, with an average of 46%, compared to only 25% for younger accelerators, a difference that is statistically significant at the 5% level. However, we do not observe any statistically significant differences in terms of survival rates, with older accelerators achieving an 80% survival rate, compared to a 76% survival rate for younger programs. A more thorough study would investigate whether the discrepancy in results is due to graduates of older accelerators having more time to develop successful business models the enterprise-level study we are proposing as a follow-up to this initial study can more thoroughly investigate this hypothesis. Table 1: Comparing Accelerators by Age Accelerators founded before 2008 (n = 11) Avg. Enterprise Success Rate 46% 25% Avg. Enterprise Survival Rate 80% 76% Accelerators founded after 2008 (n = 29) Organizational Funding Sources In our sample, we found that about two-thirds of respondents relied primarily on grants for their operations (defined as over 50% of annual revenue). However, we did not find any significant differences in this study in the enterprise success rate or the enterprise survival rate. On average, grant reliant accelerators had an average enterprise success rate of 29%, and a survival rate of 74%, while those that were not, had a success rate of 35%, and a success rate of 82%. Table 2: Comparing Organizational Funding Sources Majority Philanthropic Support (n = 27) Avg. Enterprise Success Rate 29% 35% Avg. Enterprise Survival Rate 74% 82% Majority Non-Philanthropic Support (n = 13) 4 The Independent Sample t-test is used to compare averages for two groups of cases (e.g. for-profit/non-profit), to see if any differences are statistically significant. A result may be significant at the 10%, 5% or 1% level, which means that you are 90%, 95%, or 99% sure of a difference between the means in this sample, respectively. We provide sample means for various categories, along with sample sizes in parentheses. 19